Nevertheless, we went, we played mah-jongg, we survived. We didn't kill the baby or lose the dogs. We survived the rail system (just) and now I'm home and clean and don't smell even a little bit of dog, though I think I have baby-germs in my throat.
The next few posts are collected from the holiday (I took my Palm, lifesaver, thanks so much Jinty). It's not especially traveloguey, but if you really don't like hearing about holidays and christmas, you may want to skip the next few ....